From One Support To Another
by FourthWallBreaker
Summary: Naofumi arrives at a curious shack, and meets a pair of even more curious people. Just a one-shot where Naofumi runs into a couple characters from Log Horizon and they have a little chat. Takes place before he activates the Rage Shield, so when he's acting as a traveling merchant.


**This story's been kicking around in my head for the last couple weeks. My brother introduced me to Rising of the Shield Hero, and I honestly couldn't resist writing a quick thing in response, since I see some of Shiroe's crafty way of doing things in how Naofumi acts. This is just a one-shot, though; I don't intend on continuing it.**

Despite the fact that Naofumi had gotten used to this world and the fact that everyone in it hated him – well, everyone _high up_– there were still a few things that surprised him.

Like a little, half-beaten shack that sat on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, and the strange, dark-haired man in a white cloak who was sitting outside it, watching him approach.

"Good day." The man closed his book and rose from the stump he had been sitting on. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me how many days until the next miniature catastrophe? If you know, that is."

Naofumi blinked. That had to be the oddest way to start a conversation, and it had him checking the timer in the upper right corner of his vision.

"It's…three weeks out, why?"

A second later, he mentally cursed himself for not charging the man for the answer.

"Ah. It seems I'm going to be here for a while longer, then. Thank you." The man turned to walk back into the shack, then paused and looked at Naofumi again. Something about those eyes _really _made him wary. "You look like you've been traveling for some time. My friend and I don't have much, but…maybe you would be willing to share a meal with us and fill us in on what's happened in the world? We're a bit out of our element."

The smile that crossed the man's face made chills run down Naofumi's spine. Raphtalia, who was sitting next to him on their cart, looked at him worriedly.

The only one who _wasn't _fazed was Filo.

"I like the sound of food!" The giant bird pulling their cart shifted abruptly into her little girl form.

The man jumped at the sudden shift, and his glasses glinted ever so slightly, hiding the surprised expression in his eyes.

"Filo," Naofumi said warningly.

"Come on, Master Naofumi. _Please? _I'm getting hungry!"

"You're always hungry."

"Perhaps a good reason to stop for an hour or two," the man suggested, recovering from his surprise. "Please, I insist."

Naofumi watched the man motion towards the shack and caught a glimpse at what was inside that white cloak of his. Travel bags? And those clothes…they looked a bit…

Naofumi's frown deepened, and he huffed as Filo looked at him with a pleading expression. "All right, fine. But we're not staying the night."

"Yay!" Filo clapped her hands together and ran inside without a second glance.

The man chuckled before looking to Naofumi and Raphtalia as they climbed down from the cart. "We'd better catch her before she eats everything Naotsugu managed to make this afternoon."

The name caught Naofumi's attention – not out of recognition, but because of how it _sounded. _"Naotsugu?"

"Ah, where are my manners? My name is Shiroe." The man – Shiroe – looked at Naofumi with interest. "And yours?"

"…Naofumi."

Shiroe's glasses caught the light just so, and the grin that crossed his face made Naofumi wonder if giving the man his name was a bad idea. "I thought so. We're not the only ones who have crossed over."

"What do you mean?" Raphtalia looked between the two of them in confusion. "Do you – did you come from the same world?"

"I doubt it. But…this does make the implications interesting."

Shiroe motioned for them to follow him inside, where they were met with the sight of a man with shortly cut brown hair playing keep-away with Filo and what appeared to be a stew pot.

"I _told _you, ya gotta wait for—Shiro! There you are! Help me get something to eat before she gets the rest!"

"All right." Shiroe laughed and started producing bowls from one of the battered cabinets.

"Filo," Naofumi called warningly.

Filo stopped trying to reach for the pot the other man – Naotsugu, probably – was holding almost over his head. The winged girl pouted at his disapproving expression. "But I'm _hungry."_

It was already pretty clear that she'd had some already – her mouth was covered in bits of meat and some kind of vegetable.

"You can wait for seconds," Naofumi said.

Filo huffed and plopped down on one of the two stools in the shack. "Fine."

Shiroe chuckled at the sight, and even though Naotsugu had been fighting against her a moment before, so to speak, he smiled as well. Probably that cute little girl charm or something.

While the two men took their time getting helpings for themselves and their guests, Naofumi took a moment to look around the shack. It was small, and didn't look like it had been lived in for long despite the effects of the weather.

Although, the pile of armor and the shield in the corner caught his attention more than he'd liked.

"Ah, you like my stuff?" Naotsugu grinned as he handed Naofumi a bowl. "Sorry, but you probably shouldn't take it off my hands. Came from another world and all."

Naofumi turned his head sharply and caught a glimpse of Shiroe looking amused at the edge of his vision. "_Another _world? You mean you come from Fantasy Japan or something?"

The question caused Naotsugu to blink blankly for a moment, but he recovered quickly.

_"You're_ from _Japan?!"_

The yell in his ear made Naofumi wince.

"What is Japan, Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked in confusion.

"It's the country he was born in," Shiroe replied. "Naotsugu and I come from the same place, but probably not _exactly_the same. Did you ever hear of a game called _Elder Tale _by any chance?"

"Elder Tale?" Naofumi frowned. There was a…vague sense of familiarity about it, but…

He shook his head. "Can't say I have."

Shiroe nodded. "I suspected as much. We're likely from different Japans, then."

"Are you saying we're caught in some kind of multiversal fantasy tale or something, Glasses?" Naotsugu looked at Shiroe. "First you say you might have a way to get us home, and now it turns out you just dropped us in another fantasy setting!"

"We're going back when the next catastrophe hits this place, which from the sound of it, isn't as far off as I thought," Shiroe replied. "We just need a natural rift, that's all."

"You came here during the Wave?" Raphtalia asked in surprise. "But – wasn't that terrifying?"

Naotsugu laughed. "Not as terrifying as one Raid Boss we fought a while back! Let me tell you, that was a real nail-biter!"

"…Raid Boss?"

"It seems our worlds have a few interesting differences to them," Shiroe commented. "Would you be interested in telling us about this one, one support to another?"

Naofumi stiffened. "What? But you—"

"In Elder Tale, I play a Sorcerer, which is a support class," Shiroe explained. "And Naotsugu is the tank in our party."

"Someone's gotta protect Strategist-san," Naotsugu said with a grin.

"But – but you don't look like…like…"

"Low-level players?" Shiroe finished. He smiled that wicked smile again. "People who think our classes are for people who don't know how to play don't know what they're talking about. Come, sit. Let's talk."

Considering there were only two stools in the shack, it ended up being Raphtalia and Filo who sat while the other three stood – Naotsugu had insisted, and he wasn't about to be swayed.

The reason why became apparent rather quickly.

"So, are you a closet or open pervert?"

Naofumi stared at Naotsugu while Shiroe shook his head and sighed.

"Ignore him. He is likely asking that because of your party members."

"…riiight. How did you get here from Japan?"

Shiroe smiled slightly. "Well, first, we were brought to the world of Elder Tale. It's an online MMO that takes place in a fantasy version of Japan."

"Yeah! There was supposed to be this big expansion, so we were all getting on at midnight to get a first look at it," Naotsugu added. "Next thing we knew, we were _in _the game! Everyone from all over the world! It got hectic for a while when we were trying to settle in, but Glasses managed to get everything in order where we were."

"It was nothing," Shiroe said modestly.

"You threatened to kick all the guilds out of the guild hall if they didn't do what you wanted them to," Naotsugu said. "It was a stroke of _genius, _buying the building!"

"Aren't those sorts of things unavailable in a game?" Naofumi frowned.

"Ordinarily, yes. But after the Catastrophe, a lot of things became available to us that weren't available before." Shiroe pushed up his glasses. "It's allowed us to do things that come from _our _world, like build sturdy metal ships, or make hamburgers."

"Or, try to build portals and end up in another fantasy world because of _their _catastrophe." Naotsugu sent Shiroe a look.

"We'll just have to let the merchant guilds know that they didn't succeed when we get back," Shiroe said. "They can always try again later. What about you, Naofumi? Were you brought here during a catastrophe?"

Naofumi's expression hardened.

"Master Naofumi was summoned here, as one of the Four Cardinal Heroes in order to combat the Waves," Raphtalia explained. "The Sword, Spear, Bow, and Shield Heroes are meant to help stop them from ending the world. But…"

She hesitated, and looked at Naofumi with a worried expression. Filo did too.

Naotsugu sighed and shook his head. "So that's why you were looking at us like that. Man, this world sucks if they hate on tanks."

Naotsugu's response caused Naofumi some surprise. That was...

"What about the other three?" Shiroe asked. "Do they feel the same?"

The question brought back Naofumi's focus. "They can think whatever they want. I don't care."

Naotsugu and Shiroe exchanged looks.

"…kinda reminds me how you let those rumors go on, Glasses."

"Most of them are true, there's not really much I can do about them." Shiroe shrugged. When Naofumi looked at him curiously, Shiroe elaborated, "Some of the things I have done to bring order to our world have been…well, some might call them less than heroic."

"Like the Guild hall," Naofumi guessed.

"That was one of the bigger things I did," Shiroe agreed. "But things have settled down since then. Now we run things like camps for the younger players, and make sure that the regular Raid Bosses don't turn into world-wide catastrophes."

"Sounds like you have a lot on your hands."

"We're used to it by now." Naotsugu shrugged. "And it's not like _our _guild is running everything by itself – I don't think Nyanta could handle the pressure of being our only chef!" He grinned.

Naofumi blinked. The name must be an avatar handle of some kind.

"Say!" Naotsugu brightened. "Do you think I can teach him some of the skills I know, Shiro? I betcha getting off a good Shield Smash would make these other guys think twice about the tanks being terrible."

Shield Smash? That sounded like it would be a pretty good attack to have – an _actual _attack, no less!

"I don't know if our types of skills would translate over well," Shiroe remarked. "Unless we can find a way to translate _our_gaming mechanics to this world's variant."

"There is one way we could test it."

Shiroe and Naotsugu looked at Naofumi curiously as he held out a hand.

"My shield can absorb materials in order to give me new skills," Naofumi explained. "If I can—"

"You are _not _absorbing my shield!" Naotsugu said indignantly.

"I wasn't suggesting that!" Naofumi barked back. "Some of your hair, maybe. If you're from another world and you can do things with your shield, I might be able to pick up on the skills if I take some of your hair. Maybe yours, too." He nodded to Shiroe. "I've been told I'm good with support magics. If I can get access to at least one of your spells, that might be useful."

Shiroe tilted his head slightly, considering Naofumi as his glasses glinted again. Naotsugu started to look between the two of them worriedly.

"How _much _hair, do you think?" Shiroe asked with a sly grin.

"I don't need a haircut," Naotsugu whined. "Really, I don't."

Shiroe chuckled, and Naofumi couldn't help but smile a little himself. "I doubt he's going to shave your head, Natsu."

"Still!"

"Do you have something that could shave his head?" Naofumi asked casually.

"Naofumi!" Naotsugu threw his arms over his head. "You're not getting any of my hair!"

"Calm down, I only need a few strands. We need to test if my shield will accept it before I ask for more."

Naotsugu didn't look too happy with the idea, but Shiroe reached over and plucked a few hairs from his friend's head, prompting a wince from the other.

"I thought you were a tank," Naofumi teased as he accepted the hairs from Shiroe. He dropped them into the green gem in his shield, smirking a little.

"Doesn't mean I can't be a softie!" Naotsugu lowered his arms.

Shiroe shook his head, smiling knowingly. Then he saw Naofumi frowning, and he frowned as well. "Is it not working?"

"My shield is registering it as unknown material it can't use," Naofumi said. "Looks like people from other fantasy worlds don't count towards the shields I can use."

"Ah, that's – wait, _shields? _As in plural?" Naotsugu blinked.

Naofumi's shield shifted to the book form he used for crafting.

"Oh! That's so cool! That must be a legendary item of some kind!" Naotsugu leaned over, giving the shield a closer look. "Do you think we'd be able to make a shield like that, Shiro?"

"Maybe. It would be something to look into. I assume the others you mentioned earlier have weapons that have similar abilities?" Shiroe asked.

"Yeah."

"Interesting. Then it would make sense that more could be made, if the process was found. Might be something that could be looked into. You could even make weapons for your friends with that in mind. Probably not to the same level, but still."

"Maybe." That might be something interesting. His fellow heroes likely weren't interested in that.

They finished their meal not long after, and while Naotsugu took the pot out and scrubbed it thoroughly, Shiroe talked with Naofumi about demi-humans and filolials, comparing the latter to Chocobos. At least their two worlds had _that _in common.

"Well, I don't want to keep you for longer than we have already," Shiroe remarked. "I assume that you have places that you want to go to. Your cart looks like it has something in it."

"We're delivering medicine to one of the outer villages," Raphtalia spoke up.

"Ah! That is important. We probably shouldn't keep them then." Shiroe rose to his feet. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Naofumi. I hope you can prove everyone else wrong on what you and your shield are capable of." He grinned.

Naotsugu copied Shiroe's expression. "Yeah! And maybe you'll be able to learn some attacking moves with that shield in the future!"

"I hope so," Naofumi replied.

As Naofumi and Raphtalia gathered their things and put them back in the cart, Shiroe came out of the hut with something.

"A little something to remember us by." He handed Naofumi a scroll. "I don't think we'll be able to meet again, but if we did, I think there is a chance we could add each other to our parties. And if you end up in our world, look for Log Horizon."

"I'll keep that in mind." Naofumi accepted the scroll and stored it away in one of his bags. "Thanks."

"Of course."

The scroll ended up lying forgotten at the back of Naofumi's things as he continued assisting the local villages and gaining a name for himself. But it was still there, as a reminder of that chance encounter.


End file.
